COSMOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY: - ispcjournal.orgispcjournal.org/journals/2016/07.docx · Web viewOkah-Atenga Pierre-Paul Cosmology and philosophy: in relation to the world. Okah-Atenga

ISSN 2307-3705. Philosophy & Cosmology 2015 (Vol. 15)

99

COSMOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY:IN RELATION TO THE WORLD

Pierre-Paul Okah-Atenga — PhD, Associate Professor,University of Paris-Sorbonne

(Paris, France)

E-mail: [email protected]

This study does not only aim at identifying the core which stimulates to the universe, known or still unknown dynamics and statics, but also at discovering the core that explains and establishes the different faces of relationship between peoples. In fact, it is justice which explains and founds the world order which exists. But metaphysical justice is triple as it expresses contradiction, tack, human kind. This text is related to contradiction.

Key Words: Cosmology, Core, Justice, World order, Philosophy, Rule.

IntroductionDefinitely, sciences and technologies do provide us with clear

explanations on questions of the nature, of the structure and functioning of the universe, because they use steps that are easy to perceive and that strengthen our hopes in a certain ease or in an undeniable security. But intuitively and rationally, human feels he can learn more and access to a universal, transcendental, ageless knowledge which units scattered solutions revealing other scientific domains. It is question of a new glance on the universe. Knowledge that it can deliver is based on critical contemplative, in- terrogative, denying reflection through which one discovers the core wrapped up in bits of knowledge that other sciences reveal to us.

Promptly, the question under examination here is that of the discovery of the explanatory core which founds nature, the structure, the functioning of the world under a fundamental rule, from which all other laws derive which are revealed through science, history, geography, economics, law, physics, astronomy and all other specific fields. Based on this, our main question is: what is the basic rule that explains and founds dynamics and statics of the universe? But alternatively, does a world order exist? What is it? How do we know it?

In fact, the objective here is double, specifically not only identifying the core that stimulates to the universe, progressive and regressive movements that we know and dynamics and statics we still ignore; but moreover discover the core that explains and founds different faces of human relationships, relationships between peoples. Ma- jor prerequisites inspire this double objective, namely not only the complexity of the universe which enlists the known and the unknown, the visible and the invisible, the accessible and inaccessible, the macroscopic and the microscopic, the determinism and the indeterminism, the possibility and the impossibility; but also worries caused by our environment today as a result of conflicts arising,


10

diseases destroying peoples (AIDS, Ebola fever), natural disasters (cataclysms, destruction of the environment) and question of the place of human in the universe, limitations coupled to his actions, consciousness of ethic and metaphysical dimensions of this place and actions.

© Okah-Atenga Pierre-Paul, 2015

Okah-Atenga Pierre-Paul Cosmology and philosophy: in relation to the world


10

Other prerequisites inspire furthermore the double objective, namely the problem- atic of the transcendence that leads to the belief of a spread and paced universe in the space. This leads to the burning issue of supernatural, of the hereafter, of life, of ener- gies that occur there, increase or disappear. When scientific languages which can claim a kind of relevance do appear somehow insufficient, this will open a door to other explanatory and basic reflections, among which philosophy and its metaphysics, without forgetting the philosophical cosmology. To view what ought to be done and mostly how to range in to tell where the world is moving to, and if it is, or not, already complete, abovementioned major prerequisites should effectively be combined, on one hand to a philosophical process made of contemplation, observation, collection of information, interrogation, questioning, logical reasoning, analysis, synthesis on the world viewed in its universality and, on the other hand to the cosmology which, is, a rational discourse on the way human lives his contact with the universe.

This leads us to the following assumptions: not only the contact of the human to the world is not the same everywhere, since it can take various shapes; but also, the functioning of the universe shows certain patterns, despite various phenomena that we witness. From this, the following answers to abovementioned questions are very important: it is justice that explains the universal order of the existing world, since justice is not only the substance of philosophy, but also the essential law (fundamental) that fosters dynamics and statics of the universe. Based on this answer to our main question, we then notice that the notion of justice in question here has three dimensions, expressive both of contradiction, of tack and human kind. After having brought some light to main concepts, we are going to pour more precision on expressive justice of contradiction theme, particularly in the cosmology and philosophy of ancient Egypt

Cosmology and functioning of the worldCosmology and philosophy seem to be at their start only a constant

questioning about the universe (nature, structure, functioning). As it happens to meridians closer to the pole, cosmology and philosophy necessarily converge towards the proximity of the being and totality, without confusion or cessation, till tackling the real under different angles and plans.

Whereas philosophy transforms into conscience such huge experience of human in the world, cosmology is a science of the world as such, a knowledge and rational discourse about how human lives his relation to the world mastered and possessed by himself.

As a matter of fact, cosmology is the first speculation about the universe, whose first ideas appear in the pharaonic Egypt and deep antiquity of Europe, where human wants to dominate his fear of the unknown and his place in the system of the universe. The universe is known here as an orderly world and mastered by human, a knowledge



10

or a rational discourse about the world now owned by human. In 1762, cosmology is defined by the “Dictionnaire de l’Académie française” as science of general laws through which the physical world is governed, even though cosmology is not the same everywhere, since it takes different shapes depending on the time and people where it is developed.

For example, Aristotle (384-322 B.C) represents the world centered on the earth,with a sublunary world and superlunary world. Claude Ptolémée de

Thébaïde (100-


101


170 after Christ) is a geographer whose cosmological system is geocentrism (earth is fixed at the centre of the universe) His great “Syntaxe mathématique or Almalgeste” is a vast compilation of astronomic knowledge of elderly. It will be influential till the end of middle ages and Renaissance.

Based on the Greek legacy, the Islamic civilization will closely consider cosmology and astronomy, as its objective is to determine prayer hours and Mecca direction towards which the faithful shall orient for the prayer. Furthermore, Arabs will produce charts and geographic maps used in determining necessary elements of the prayer. This undertaking shall require talents from all domains (algebra, astronomy, geography, philosophy…). Many great minds will take part in this venture, notably Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Kindi (+873), Al-Farabi (+950), Avicenne or Ibn Sina (980-1036), gazali or Al-gazel (1058-1111), Averroès or Ibn Roschd (1126-1198). During this period, a great expansion is witnessed in thought from Islam (Âge d’or de la civilization islamique).It is known under a simple expression of classical period.

Another thought shall contribute significantly to the evolution of cosmology, notably the Polish astronomer’s thought Nicolas Copernic (1473-1543), who clearly states the movement hypothesis of Earth and other planets around the Sun. In fact, the heliocentrism of Copernic claims that the Sun is immobile at the centre of the universe (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri VI. But even though the Coper- nic treaty explains main astronomic phenomena known during that period, more simply than the Ptolémée system so far admitted, it denies to Earth the dominant role in the universe. As a matter of fact, this treaty will give way to many criticisms, notably in the church, as Copernic demonstrates that the Earth is not mobile at the centre of the universe as believed. On the contrary, the Earth turns on itself and around the Sun. This strongly contested demonstration will only be known as valid on the 18th century, after the discovery of glasses. Breaking from the geocentric con- ception of the world, the Copernic work indicates a change in the history of thought and scientific progress.

From 1609, Galileo (1564-1642) will use astronomic glasses. He will perfect it to study the movements of planets, stars and sunspots. Therefore, Galileo discovers the moon relief, main satellites of Jupiter, phases of Venus and the presence of stars in the Milky Way. In fact, rallied to the heliocentric system of Copernic, whose work is singled out (1616), Galiléo is brought before the Court of the Inquisition after publica- tion of “Dialogue on the two great systems of the world”. He is convicted and forced to retract (1633), as in 1616 the Inquisition published a decree defining the heliocentrism as false doctrine and against Holy Scriptures. In 1632, it will single out all scriptures on heliocentrism, despite support received by Galileo from some Jesuits. Pope Urban VIII, a friend to Galileo will immediately commute Galileo’s


101


sentence, house arresting him. Galileo shall only be rehabilitated in 1992 by the same Church.

Nevertheless, Galileo remains one of the founders of modern mechanism (Dis- course on two new sciences), as it plays a role in the introduction of mathematics for the understanding of physical laws. Notably, Galileo states the law of fall of objects in the vacuum. Moreover, Galileo brings the first formulation of the principle of relativity. But the fate that awaits Galileo will lead René Descartes (1596-1650) to mention that Galileo lacked method and to choose a philosophical career. That is why Descartes will give up publishing the “Traité du monde et de la lumière” (1634) and conceive a philosophy project of universal sciences, which clearly set the range



101

apart from scholastic teaching. Thereafter, Descartes will raise the universal doubtand the cogito to the rank of first principle of intelligibility.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that in the prehistory (Egypt) and deep An- tiquity (Egypt, Europe), during Middle age, Renaissance period and during the Age of Enlightenments, religious cosmology is not different from scientific cosmology, since it is question before all of studying the sky and time calculation, so that cosmology has for practical applications the production of calendars, sundials and clocks, the determination of religious feast days. From 17th and 18th centuries, with Kepler (1571-1630, Tycho-Braché (1546-1601), Galileo (1564-1942), Newton (1642-1727),astronomy concerned by an observable unearthly space will lead to discoveries in fundamental sciences (universal gravitation). These discoveries are in fact applications in other domains than time calculations and calendars. For example, mechanic will open the way to industrial revolution. During the 18th century, astronomy and cosmology will become autonomous sciences, free from religious authorities. En- riched by physical sciences and chemistry (quantic mechanic), astronomy will give birth to astrophysics at the end of the 19th century. In return, cosmology will split into a religious cosmology, a scientific cosmology and a philosophic cosmology.

II. Philosophic glance on cosmologyFacing the growth of sciences and technology, temptation is high to

empty cosmology from philosophical background to take it to archeological considerations (the age of the universe), historical (evolution) and materialist (constitutive dimensions and elements) which give us confidence, obviously in a certain ease or a certain spiritual security. But intuitively and rationally, human feels he can learn more and access universal, transcendental, timeless knowledge, unifying scattered responses that other scientific domains reveal. In general, philosophy is like a scientific-systematic and critical presentation which leads human to a self-awareness to the af- firmation of the absolute, through a reflection on the insertion of human in material realities surrounding him. In fact, philosophy raises the problem of human and his destiny in this world, aims at helping human acquire the most lucid self-awareness and of his place in the universe, and also the conscience to reduce his opinions to clear and distinct ideas. Moreover, philosophy operates a reflection on full experience of human and on scattered theories revealed to us by other scientific domains. That is why there is only a rational, logic, systematic and critical philosophy.

Nevertheless, philosophy has two directions, known as two types of our experience of conscience, that is the metaphysical direction and the ontological direction. In fact, the metaphysical direction helps us to be aware of the occurrence, of the existence and of the meaning of



101

things in this world, over time and in the history. This comprises general metaphysics (being, core) and special metaphysics (God, Soul, and Liberty). The task of general metaphysics consists of explaining the universe and trying to understand the unity of the world through the search and discovery of the first or ultimate cause of things surrounding us (core, substance). Thus, it is question of “living first” and “philosophize then” to live well.

About ontology, it helps be aware of the substance (being, core) of things facing us in the universe, of their nature (origin, source), of their structure (formation), of their functioning (evolution), of their value (raison d’être), across space and history. The task of general ontology is to seek, as general metaphysics first or ultimate


103


causes of things (general metaphysics), that escape the fugacity of the sensitive, to penetrate the substantiality of the being which is by the examination of the formal being in its intrinsic reality, by the study of its deep logical nature, by the discovery of its essential attributes, by the knowledge and by the explanation in their high intelligibility of things surviving in the world across time and history.

From there, philosophical research will contain both an analysis of properties of the being in general (metaphysics-ontology), a reflection on characteristics of the human (What is human: anthropology), a critical study of the scientific activity (Kant: What must I learn: epistemology- theory of knowledge), a justification of human rights and obligations (Kant: what must I do: ethics-politics) an interpretation of the relationship with God, of the religious attitude (Kant: what can I hope for). It is because, moreover, the world is part of human being that he determines this being and lets its dimensions known. Therefore, philosophy will seek to know what the world is, the way human lives his surrounding world, the way he builds his history, tools he uses to live humanely. In fact, philosophy seeks the existential significance of structures and bodily, material and cosmological dimensions of life of beings in general and human beings in particular in the universe.

Furthermore, because other scientific domains have many explanations scientists recognize not being able to answer alone, philosophers will enlarge logic to other modes of reasoning than deduction (cause-effect relationship), that induction (the definition of precise natures, of the following gender, of the specific difference), to indicate the final meaning to give human actions (teleology-ethics), the meaning of the notion of expressive substance of the vocation to consider there is a first and ultimate cause of the origin of life, of the world and human himself (metaphysics)

Beside the metaphysical perspective, philosophers can make use of the phenomenological perspective. As a matter of fact, if the world is part of the human, it implies human is part of the world. This implies a necessary movement that goes from human to the world and from the world to human. That is why we agree with Martin Heidegger (fundamental ontology), when he thinks and believes that human is a being-in-the-world. Therefore, it goes without saying that philosophy should study this movement to explain to human both how human is present and/or absent in the world and how the world obeys him and/or resists him. From there, human appears as a being of the world, as human has a conscience, a will, a liberty and desires.

Yet according to Edmund Husserl, every conscience is the conscience of something. Consequently human is not a solitary subject within itself. He is naturally or artificially sour towards others or towards the world. Thus, human is only himself if he looks at others or at his fellowman and at the world of objects, things and materi- als, across time and in the history. Influenced by the phenomenological


104


perspective, Martin Heidegger will bring in two notions to signal the place of human in the world, that is the being-there and the being-in-the-world. These two notions simply show us that human and the world are complementary. Hence, the world exists only for the human, (a thinking being) and human can only exist within the world (material, time, space, history, culture). For the African (black) in particular, the world is nei- ther an appearance, nor an illusion, but something not only with a great ontological intensity, but which also disarmed him (slavery, slave trade, colonization) still again something that must, nevertheless help him (re) build by and with exchanges with others, within and out of the African continent.



105

III. The world order in questionThe world order first and foremost refers to an attempt to elaborate

and material- ize an intellectual and dialectic effort between cosmology and philosophy, that leads to the quest and discovery of nature (source, origin), of the structure (formation) and the functioning (evolution) of the world and man according to a law or a principle of invariable intelligibility. From there, man can foresee phenomena that occur in the world in time, history and culture. Therefore, man can predict the operation of the universe which is often cyclic. In fact, the world has a reality and it is even a reality, that is a compound and modifiable being that man organizes according to a certain order, whose laws and principles are discovered by philosophical cosmology. In ad- dition, man is a being endowed at the same time with reason, will, freedom but also desires. That being is always in situation in a universe that is strange to him, but to which he must all the same open his heart.

Thanks to the philosophy of nature and its history, man is going to discover the nature of the universe, explain and describe its structure, master and possess its functioning and evolution. All that leads to philosophical cosmology which is itself a philosophical orientation of cosmology essentially teleological and an attempt to respond connected with the primary or ultimate cause that explains and justifies at the same time the origin or the source, the formation or structure, the evolution or functioning of the world. Therefore, philosophical cosmology is a very old intellectual practice and attitude towards reality, even if the word cosmology was introduced in philosophy only in XVIII century by Christian (Baron de) Wolf who in 1728, made it a branch of philosophical knowledge.

As a word, intellectual practice and attitude towards reality, philosophical cosmology therefore deals with all the problems that concern nature (origin, source), structure (formation), the functioning and evolution of the universe seen as a reality in itself (Wolf, Kant). Associated with science, philosophical cosmology is like part of Physics that examines and teaches the study of all the bodies of the world, to the extent that Cosmology is like the way all the bodies in question make up the world. In particular, Philosophical cosmology associated with science is like a systematic and critical theory that concerns the universe seen as a set of beings in space and a series of independent events in space, time, history and culture, but that should in the long run be put in order according to the laws or invariable principles that Philosophical Cosmology takes out the mission of discovering.

That shows that the contributions of Scientific Cosmology to Philosophical Cos- mology are necessary, because they determine our vision of the world and our way of living, since they give us the opportunity to articulate the philosophical reflections and scientific knowledge. All that lead to an experimental, systematic and critical science that deals with the origins of man and the universe seen as



106

the totality of phenomena astronomically observable, without neglecting its formation, evolution and functioning (cosmogony, cosmogenesis). If we believe that the world is a set of beings and a series of independent events in space, time and history, not only the universe is a compound and modifiable being, but also the universe is a being made which functions according to laws and invariable principles that Philosophical Cos- mology simply takes the mission of discovering. That is why to the main question of knowing what is at the base of the world order (nature, structure, functioning) and even to the principle of philosophical process, the answer is the following: not only



107

it is not exaggerated to put the question on justice to the principle of philosophical process, but also it is justice that strongly expresses,

explains and justifies the laws and invariable principles of the world order, seen, henceforth, as a big unified whole. Consequently, the world

order here implies the legitimating of the origin (nature, source) of formation (structure), of functioning and evolution of the universe

through a founding principle (primary or ultimate cause) which, teleologically, sub- sume under the term of justice. Now, it is important

to emphasize that the basis (the foundation) designates at the same time the home -truths or the ultimate truths and the logical truths prior to the truths that are a case of legitimizing abstractly or theo- retically.

Thus, the invariable principle of intelligibility refers to the Arche of the An- cient Greeks, inherent or original principle whose foundation is the

basic principle of determinism, according to which all in the universe depends on preceding events. All that leads to the principle of necessity

which is rigorously expressive of what cannotbe otherwise than what it is.

Because mechanistic determinism stipulates that everything is determined and fatal, justice is firstly the permission that we need to proclaim in a loud voice a holy word (religion), to the extent that at the beginning, justice and law become confused. Then, justice is related to the fact of making an order or making a decision, as well as to the fact of obeying to the necessity through which what exists, exists but that cannot be otherwise. Thus, proclaiming, making an order or making a decision express justice, the same way as obeying something expresses law. Justice and law are therefore at the same time expressive of the existence of a world order, explanatory of the primary or ultimate cause of nature, structure, evolution and functioning of the universe, the same way they are the founders of the unity of the world, despite the diversity and changes in environment.

As a result, the Philosophical Cosmology appears as the study of the being as he determines himself and excludes some aspects of the being.

That is what leads to the philosophy of nature and on the preeminence of natural law, because the latter is a prime principle of intelligibility that stipulates that things are determined according to their purpose.

From there, justice sounds like Leibniz ´s sufficient reason, which enables to understand that there is an order in the world, but that it is

important to seek to know (Philosophical Cosmology) in order to become the “master and pos- sessor of the world”. Consequently, the

world order is the consciousness and the will to make the world function according to justice and law, seen as first elements (original,

primordial), in the heart of a change that gives birth to all the compounds. From there, our triple hypothesis is the following: if at the

metaphysical level, justice is in the principle of the philosophical process and at the basis of the world order (nature, structure,

functioning, evolution), therefore justice is expressive at the same time of themes of conflicts, moderation and human race. Only the



108

first part of that hypothesis (conflict) interests us here and in particular, in relation to the cosmology and philosophical thought of

Ancient Egypt. In order to justify our hypothesis, we are going to give some elements of analysis and reflexive explanations of the situation

of Man in the world, so as to show that the cosmos ( the ordered world) is to man a factual experience, and for the African, mostly the Black

African, it is the passage of slavery, of the slave trade and colonization, whose explanation is to be examined through a history of the

philosophy of nature, from the long Egyptianprehistory and the depth of Greco-latin antiquity to our contemporary era.



109

IV. Justice as expressive of the themeof conflict in ancient egypt

It is a reflection on the manner or the nature (Physic) through the physical cat- egory of conflict, to the extent that changes in the world are thought from a qualitative couple of opposites (Aristotle). In fact, two qualitative opposites cannot have a meaning separately because one of them is what it is under its aspects of quality only in relation to the other. They can also exchange roles; this reversal is not going in any way to alter the opposition of the two opposites.

The observation of the universe shows us that the world is made of elements that are found in pairs. The two elements that make a pair are therefore two qualitative opposites. The articulation of the elements of the world seeks therefore to always satisfy this need for conflict. When opposites exist, the universe is in equilibrium. When on the other hand on the opposite terms is absent, that will imply the intervention of a third party (God, nature, man), and who is going to create the circumstances that allows what is absent to recur so as to take back its place. Consequently, what is at the centre of explanations of the world order as we perceive it here and also such as it is only the result of a regulation based on the equilibrium of opposites, are at the same time the protection of opposites, the production of opposites, and the recovery of conflict.

Here, therefore, justice is the main pillar of the world order seen as the desire to ensure the equilibrium of opposites that explain the manner the universe is struc- tured and which is also at the origin of universe. Facing nothingness, it is necessary to create an opposite that is the world in its entirety. Face to life, it is necessary that death should arise. Therefore, fair nature, fair structure, the fair evolution and functioning of universe are driven by the desire to satisfy the need of conflict. This is illustrated in the Egypt of Pharaohs, notably in the thought of Ancient Egypt. In fact, in the thought of The Egypt of Pharaohs, justice as expressive of the theme of conflict is manifested through the birth and harmonious order of the world, which are often the result of conflicts between opposing forces, that is order and disorder, good and evil, life and death, day and night, light and darkness. These couples of opposites are indissociable because they make people think the world and its changes inside conflicts; they don’t have individual meanings, even if finally it is important to find the principle that reconciles them that is, here, the Maat, a principle of single intelligibility and also a supreme intelligence.

In fact, Egyptians perceive the universe as a divine creation and as an evolution in instable equilibrium, following the game of couples of opposites that takes place. Thus, part of the myth of Osiris shows us how Osiris, ( a deity and righteous and good king) is assassinated by his brother and Brother-in-law Seth ( a deity and jealous king, bad and unrighteous). But later on, and by magic, Osiris has a son called Horus,



110

with his wife Isis. The latter is going to avenge his father when he grows mature. He is going to seize power again and the kingdom of his father. But also, he is going to spare the life of his uncle Seth and give him the Southern part of the kingdom of his father Osiris. More deeply, this myth is not only the expression of an idea of justice that is going to help to solve the problem of meaning and essence of things, men of political power, but this myth also advocates the requirement of return to a fair social order; then again, this myth is the expression of the victory of Osiris over Seth through his son Horus. It is the victory of the forces of good and order (Osiris,



111

Horus) over the forces of disorder (Seth, Nephtys), to the extent that the couples of opposites seem to be present in all things and in the whole process. Therefore, Seth is an indispensable protagonist who engages his responsibility in the assassination of Osiris. As a result, Osiris needs Seth to express himself.

In the Ancient Egypt thought, justice as expressive of the theme of opposites manifests through the believes of Egyptians which are based on a set of myths that display a scene of countless deities (a basic polytheism) because there exist as many deities as provinces (prefectorates). But these myths also highlight the understanding of the divine as a unique principle, that leads to a real monotheism, because the name and aspect of a deity can change from one province to another, but they can worship the same God in several provinces, because the character of several deities remain the same.

In general, Egyptian cosmogony is a set of mythical tales on the formation and functioning of the universe, also an activity of learning or

research, as well as reflection on the origin and organization of the world (structure, evolution), even if that cosmogony varies in relation with the provinces of Egypt. Nevertheless, there are Gods who have

more important roles (protecting gods) than others (local gods). For example, according to the cosmogony of Heliopolis, only chaos exits at the beginning of the universe under the form of an ocean called Noun.

Thénars Athoum ( Athoum, Aton) confused with Re/Ra is going to emerge from that ocean. Henceforth, the appearance of the other

deities is going to be made by mixed couples (masculine/ feminine), because the demiurge born in the stream is going to give birth to

two twins: god Shou (the air, dryness) and the goddess Tefnout (humidity, humid). Shou and Tefnout support their daughter Nout (the

sky), the twin sister of Geb. Nout is a woman whose body is bent, stretched and whose starry stomach represents the celestial sphere.

She is the mother of the couples Osiris and Isis (the symbol of plant renewal) then of couples Seth and Nephts (the force of evil and

disorder). It’s the couple Osiris/ Isis that is going to give birth to Horus, (the force of good and order).

The Egyptian theology is therefore the reflection of a set of beliefs that constitute the religions practiced during about three millenniums before our era. That set of beliefs endures with a remarkable stability and has a determining influence in the development of the culture and civilization of Egypt and its environments. In fact, gods and the hereafter are for Egyptians a first rank preoccupation and are in the centre of all the aspects of existence. Therefore, the temple is the most important monument of Egyptian cities, because the temple of each province has its Eighth and Ninth (a group of nine deities) and its triads each of them made with three human beings (the father, the mother and the son), even if there exist other protecting gods and local gods. For example, the biggest Eighth and Ninth is the one that is worshipped at Heliopolis, the centre of the sun-cult. In fact, the god sun



112

( Re, Atton, Atoum, Amon-Re) constitute the Eighth and Ninth with his children and grandsons: Shou, Tefnout, Geb/Nout, Osiris/Isis, Seth/Nephtys. It is important to notice that the couples of deities are mixed (masculine/feminine.)

Consequently, the face of the other divine beings is different because it lives in the hereafter and the human beings race is different, because it lives in the universe, but aspires to go to the kingdom of deities. To say it all, the only important god who is worshipped in a constant manner was Re (the god sun), because he is everywhere in Egypt and whatever the era, at the same time the completed being and renaissance.



113

That is why he is the king of cosmic deities that is the only true god who should be worshipped at the highest level. Anyway, the contribution of Egyptian cosmic myths is contained in the expressive principles of a qualitative relation (opposites) and present in their morphological organization (order/disorder, good/evil, justice/ injustice, equilibrium/disequilibrium...) even if the epilogues always lead to a happy end. A a result, the equilibrium of the Egyptian society of Pharaohs lies on the good will of gods and the equilibrium of forces among them. Therefore, there are deities of good (Horus), whose reestablish order when it is destroyed by the deities of evil (Seth).

Accordingly, justice expressive of the theme of opposites is symbolized in the Egyptian thought not only by the contrast between the couples Osiris/Osiris and Seth/Nephtys, but also by the victory of Horus (the symbol of forces of good, order, justice, peace) over the forces of evil, disorder, injustice and violence. Beyond the simple reestablishment of the equilibrium, the faces of Horus and Seth highlight the fact that good exist only in relation to the existence of bad, the beauty of the good appears only in response to the ugliness of the evil. From there, justice is expressive of justice of the theme of opposite only because there is an injustice. Above all, the victory of Horus over Seth unites the organizational contrasts and valorizes the projec- tion of Re/Ra, that is the existence in general and the creation in particular of Egypt in particular. Despite the natural and social determinations, all that is going to lead to the building of a social and political regulation treaty. In fact, Seth as the enemy of Osiris inspires social order, because it is one of the elements of dramaturgy of power and discourse that creates a stage. In fighting against Horus, Seth participates in the process of creation of Egypt. Seth is therefore one of the founding father of Egypt and one of the souls of Nekken such as Osiris who is at the time his brother, his brother- in-law and mythical enemy.

Consequently, Seth is at the same time one of the essential elements of the Egypt and a protagonist indispensable to Horus in the system of political regulation, like the contrasted couples of good/evil, beautiful/ugly, necessary/superfluous. There- fore, Seth is going to govern barren Egypt where he is going to ensure henceforth the custody of the universal order into the heart of Egyptian civilization, whose Northern part is governed by Horus. In all, the idea of justice is deployed in a universe where men are invited to participate, even if at the same time, in the course of the history of humanity, what can be injustice at a given moment can act as justice at another moment.

ReferencesADAME BA KONA, ADAME BA KONARE, L’os de la parole, cosmologie du

pouvoir, Présence Africaine, 2001.ALFRED, C., Khenaton pharao of Egypt: a new study, Thames and

Husdon, London, 1968.



114

AMA MAZAMA, L’impératif afrocentrique, Ed. Menaibuc, Paris, 2003.ANKH, «Revue d’Egyptologie et de civilisations africaines », Paris, Khepra, n° 1-6,

1992, 1993.ASSMANN, J., MAÂT. L’Egypte pharaonique et l’idée de justice sociale, Julliard,

Paris, 1979.



115

BARRAU, A.& PARROCHIA, D., Formeetoriginedel’univers, Regardsphilosophiques sur la cosmologie, Dumond, 2010.

BASTIT, M., Etudes de cosmologie philosophique, L’Harmattan, 2013.BILOLO, M., Le cosmos, théologies philosophiques de l’Egypte antique,

Menaibuc, 2003.CHEICK ANTA DIOP, Nation nègre et culture. De l’antiquité nègre

égyptienne aux problèmes culturels de l’Afrique noire aujourd’hui, Présence Africaine, 2000.

CORTEGGNANI, J.P., L’Egypte ancienne et ses dieux, Fayard, Paris, 2007. DAUMAS, FR., La civilisation de l’Egypte pharaonique, Artaud, Paris, 1971. DAUMAS, FR., Les dieux de l’Egypte, coll. Que sais-je ? Paris, 1977.DESPLANQUES, S., L’Egypte ancienne, PUF, Paris, 2005.DIAMANO- APPIA, M., & DIAMANO- APPIA, N., L’Egypte antique, Gallimard, 2002. DUNAUD, F., Isis, mère des dieux, Ed. Actes du Sud, Paris, 2009.DUNAUD, F., LICHTENBERG, R., Les Egyptiens, Ed Le Chêne, Paris, 2004.GOYON, J.-C., Rê, Maât et pharaon ou le destin de l’Egypte antique, Eds A.C.V., 1999.LALOUETTE, CL., La littérature égyptienne, coll. Que sais-je N° 1934,

PUF, Paris, 1981.MARUEJOL, F., Dieux et rites de l’Egypte antique, La martinière Eds De, 2009. MENU, B., L’Egypte pharaonique. Nouvelles recherches sur l’histoire juridique,

économique et sociale de l’ancienne Egypte, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004. MORET, A., Le Nil et la civilisation égyptienne, Ed Albin Michel, Paris, 1925.OKAH-ATENGA, P.P., Cosmologie et philosophie- De la justice et du

Fonctionnement du Monde. Ed. PUY, Yaoundé, 2014.OKAH-ATENGA, P.P. Traite négrière, Esclavage, Colonisation et

Emergence de types d’humanité en Afrique. Le devoir de mémoire, Ed. Clé, Yaoundé, 2015.

POSENER, G., Dictionnaire de la civilisation égyptienne, en collaboration avec

SERGE SAUNERON & JEAN YOYOTTE, Ed. Fernand Hazan, Paris, 1959.

SAUNERON, S., L’Egyptologie, coll. Que sais-je N° 1312 ? PUF, Paris, 19654. SAUNERON, S., & YOYOTTE, J., La naissance du monde selon l’ancienne Egypte,

Seuil, Paris, 1954.SCHWARZ, F., L’initiation au livre des morts égyptiens, Albin Michel, Paris, 1988.



116

Documents

COSMOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY: - ispcjournal.orgispcjournal.org/journals/2016/07.docx · Web viewOkah-Atenga Pierre-Paul Cosmology and philosophy: in relation to the world. Okah-Atenga